With those two songs, Rainbow became the only other girl group I cared about as a fan after SNSD. So it was with much anticipation that I awaited the release of their new single “to Me”.

DSP Media introduced a flower-y concept for the girls for this album

But it’s not like DSP Media sticks to one concept for a photo teaser and another concept for the actual music video release. They caught my attention before the release of “A” with a futuristic and very fashionable look for the girls. But when the video came out, the girls had to dance as though they were about to take off their top.

-_-

Oh well.

Today, tracks from their second mini album, SO女, hit the web. I went straight to the single “to Me” and quickly hit play… but after a minute later, I had to stop the song. I was disappointed. The song wasn’t very good — and the “Oh-eh, Oh-eh-oh-eh…” chorus was annoying.

I then tried listening to the other songs. “So Cool” was just “meh”. The ‘Engrish’ is what got to me I guess. I then hoped for a saving grace from ‘SO女’.

And it came when I played the third new song on the mini-album:

“I Said You’re The One” (너뿐 이라고)

Now songs like this is what I was expecting! A nice upbeat ballad with a great chorus. Sweet vocals and no cringe-inducing English phrases. “I Said You’re The One” has a melody and song structure that is pure K-pop. I won’t be surprised if this song will end up being used on soundtracks.

That said, “I Said You’re The One” still wouldn’t have done too well if it had been released as first single to promote this mini-album. It’s a good song, no doubt. But after “A” and “Mach”s success, Rainbow needed to keep the success train rolling full steam ahead with a great track! “To Me” only slows the train down.

All-in-all, I am disappointed with Rainbow’s new material. I’m not giving up on the group though. I’m sure in a few months, they’ll release another mini-album, or who knows, going by online feedback, DSP Media may even release “I Said You’re The One” as a single with a sweet MV.

I haven’t written about K-pop since November last year and there’s good reason for that. There’s a bit of a lull in K-pop right now. Way too many girl groups and more boy bands are on the way. The only songs I liked in the last 3 months were Seungri – “What Can I Do,”MBLAQ – “Stay” and K.Will’s “My Heart Is Beating” — but I didn’t like them that much to write a post on them.

But hey, 2011 is still young and April couldn’t get more hotter. Jay Park’s finally releasing his debut single and SNSD returns with a Japanese single.